Cloud Browser

Cloud Browser Returns

Jon Pierce — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:56:25 +0000

After a gap in my posts I have returned. My blog up until now has been about Netbooks and Cloud Apps. If you have been following over the last eight months I have been discussing if Netbooks can be used in the classroom.. I even went as far as taking my MacBook and locking it up to only use my MSI Wind. I started this with the article post called, Using the Wind to Get to the Clouds. It turns out that Netbooks and Cloud Apps are viable functional tools for not only the classroom but potentially a school. While using my MSI I found out that I could use it do all of my typical school work whether it was with Cloud Apps or Open Source Apps. However, when using Cloud Apps bandwidth became an issue. My school I would imagine consumes a typical amount of bandwidth during a school day, but when several students began using various Cloud Apps simultaneously we crushed our our bandwidth.

As it turns out there are others in my school district that became interested in exploring Netbooks. So, a committee was assembled to review several different Netbooks before we came to the decision to purchase the Acer Aspire One
. More to come on a critique for the Acer in the education arena as the year goes on. I suspect it will be fine. I have loaded it with Windows XP Pro and and mostly free and Open Source apps. The only two paid app are for district wide licensed app that there is Open Source replacement for. At least that I know of. If anyone knows of a replacement for Comic Life and Inspiration I would love to know. I know what some of you are thinking, there are a handful of Open Source versions of Inspiration and you are correct. However, when migrating existing Inspiration webs none of them are able to translate and open the file. At least none that I know of yet.

So, with my collected data from using my Netbook I have decided to begin purchasing them for the students at my school as well as all of my teachers. I will keep you posted as things develop.

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Netbooks and Cloud Apps are Forward Thinking in Education

Jon Pierce — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:14:56 +0000

Last week I had the opportunity to discuss with a group of teachers in my school about Netbooks and Cloud Applications. See my school is in a unique position right now. We are in need of moving closer to a perceived vision of what the 21st Century Classrooms are supposed be. Not to mention we are in need of new computers as well as a new model for replacing our existing computers. Currently there is no known policy for computer replacement except when one breaks completely you try to find money to replace it. Over the last few years I have steadily been replacing our outdated machines but at a snail's pace in comparison to what is needed. This year I am finding myself in a strange place where I am almost excited when a computer breaks. That means I can use it for parts. That however is not a good place to be. We need to move past our current status of outdated and non-functional. That doesn't sound very 21st Century. Maybe that isn't the correct phrase at all, 21st Century. What happens when we are past that? Then what? A different phrase is needed and I feel that 21st Century Skills and Learners just doesn't fit. These are more Forward Thinking Skills and Forward Thinking Learners.

Now with the thought of putting netbooks into the hands of my students and their work in the clouds I think my staff is seeing the solution as being one worth considering. This is just what we need to be doing if we want to prepare our students with Forward Thinking Skills and place them in Forward Thinking Environments. As our conversation started with; What are Netbooks?, What are Cloud Apps?, and How do they work? After answering those questions I began to hear things like; So, we can still do... and We can now do... This is when it was clear that they would be open to try a solution (not a band-aid) that will still allow us to carry on with business as usual and position us to support our students in a better way. Oh yea, by the way, we are going to be able to double, almost triple our spending power. You can check out the price comparison at Cloud Apps for the Recession. This not only sets us up for a potentially good model for replacing outdated machines, but for the first time we are working together to move towards the goal of 1:1 computing with on-demand access. Netbooks, Cloud Apps, and an incredible community of teachers that I work with are are in a position to make enormous strides in Forward Thinking Environments and educating our Forward Thinking Students.

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An Operating System for Cloud Apps

Jon Pierce — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 06:04:28 +0000

A friend of mine knew I was a looking for a different OS for my MSI Windand and a few weeks ago sent me to gOS. Which stands for Good Operating System. gOS is truly Linux/Ubuntu with a bit of a face-life. It actually looks a whole lot more like my Mac desktop. A great feature is that it already has a few of my favorite Cloud Apps already burnt in to the dock at the bottom. It has:
-Firefox
-Google Apps (Docs, Spreadsheets, and Presentation)
-gMail
-Google Calendar

and a few more.

It also has Open Office for the Open Source fans of the world. This is pretty sweet though. All I have to do is click on the icon in my dock and my Cloud App launches. Just to sweeten the deal a bit more you are also able to add other Cloud Apps to the dock that are not already there. The basic process is simple and takes about a minute. So, in about 10 minutes you can populate your dock with all of your Cloud Apps.

I see this as a definite option as a FREE OS to use in a school for a few reasons and I will not count FREE as one of them.

If your school is aleady living in a Mac environment the transition may be easier then you think. For anyone, comfortability and familiarity is key when making any kind change. If I can offer my teachers and students an OS that appears to be very similar to what they are working in already they are more likley to accept.
Having the ability easily add the Cloud Apps that I am using to a central location (dock) and not have to access them through my web browser bookmarks or one of the many social bookmarking tools is easy. Let's face it, if it isn't easy not many will do it. If it is just something else that they have to learn and potentially fumble through they are not going to do it with an open mind. gOS is making it easy.

However, the one thing about gOS that has not been easy is installing it on my MSI Wind Netbook. See my netbook doesn't have a disk drive and gOS offers the ISO to be downloaded and burned to a CD. This creates a challenge to install it on a netbook that doesn't have a CD drive. The most obvious and potentially the easiest solution would be to purchase an external cd drive and install it that way. The slightly more complex route would be to create a bootable flashdrive and attempt to install it that way. I have tried and what I have found out is that it takes a little more than a hand shake and a smile. So, I installed it on one of my Parallels and it is AWESOME. I will post more when I get it working flawlessly on a flashdrive. If you have an old computer that is not your everyday machine give Good OS a try.

Please check out Cloud as well, it looks great!

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MSI Wind: What to do with it?

Jon Pierce — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 23:06:33 +0000

What a great day today. I was at a district workshop for technology integration into core subject areas. Today it was for Math and Science. Well, we were using Logger Pro and all the different accessories for collecting data from several sources. So, to make a long story short you can also purchase a hand-held device that will allow you to collect and analyze data in the field. It would just be cumbersome to take your full-on laptop into the field with all the potential in the world to have it damaged. The hand-held , Lab Quest, is in the neighborhood of $350+. This seems like a great place to substitute the MSI Wind as the tool for the field.

As I sit here with an amazing Science teacher from my school I begin to pitch it to him. He loves it! He is ready to start writing grants for the ability to have netbooks accessible to the students. I am prepared for a bit of a bumpy road in acquiring teacher buy-in, but it may not be as bad as I am thinking. With forward teachers like the one I mentioned earlier in this post it is clear that Netbooks and On-Demand computing (Cloud Computing) are a few of the tools that education has been waiting for to make their lives easier while refocusing our amazing energy on the true job at hand, education. To take a quote from an educator that I admire and have heard speak on many occassions, Steve Van Metre. "We are the Bearers of the Map, the Keeper of the Tools, and the Starmakers." -Steve Van Metre

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Cloud Apps for the Recession

Jon Pierce — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 22:56:50 +0000

Do you want to save money with your technology purchases? If you are a teacher reading this blog you can probably raise your hand. Well, Cloud Apps are seeming to be a highly logical solution for schools (at least to me they are) as our current economy is not bouncing back as quickly as we would like. I work in a school and am very familiar with the numbers of computers schools typically have for say a student population of 500. Let's say your school has 68 student desktops that are 9 years old, 30 student laptops that are 7 years old, and 26 teacher computers that are 7 years old. They will probably need replaced in the next year or so because let's face it you have spent enough time polishing the brass on the Titanic. Many of them are probably so slow that student and faculty frustration is reaching a high. So, let's take a look at three options for laptops and software.

MacBook (Current Apps)

MacBook 13-inch (white)
120GB Hard Drive
2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
SuperDrive 8x
Airport Extreme & Bluetooth
iSight camera
MAC OS X CONTRACT MAINT 36 MOS.-USA
ILIFE CONTRACTUAL MAINT 36 MOS.-USA
3-year AppleCare Parts Agreement

The current applications for all students are:
Microsoft Office Suite(Word, PowerPoint, Excel)
Comic Life
Inspiration
Type To Learn
iWork (Pages, Keynote, Numbers)

Total Price: $1242.34 per computer

HP 6730B Laptop (Current Apps)

2.26 GHz Core 2 Duo
2GB Memory
160GB Hard Drive
DVD/RW – CD/RW Combo drive
15.4” WXGA Display
Bluetooth
Integrated VGA Camera
INTEL Wireless WI-FI Link 5100
3 yr limited warranty
Windows XP Pro

The current applications for all students are:
Microsoft Office Suite(Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access)

Total: $1283.00 per computer

MSI Wind Netbook (Using Cloud Apps)
• Intel® Atom™ N270 Processor
• Genuine Windows® XP Home
• 10” Wide Screen Display
• Convenient Magnifying Capability
• Ergonomic Big-Size Keyboard and Touch Pad
• Hard Drive 120GB
• Built-in 1.3 Mega Pixels Webcam
• Built-in High-Performance 2 Channel Stereo Speakers, and Microphone
• 802.11b/g Wireless Lan
• Comprehensive Multi-Media Application Interface

Current applications for all students are replaced with Cloud Apps:
Various Cloud Apps that replaced our current apps

Total: $429.00 (without your school working a deal) per computer

Let's just paint a quick scenario. If you wanted to replace your 26 teacher laptops this is what it would cost:

Replacement of 26 Teacher Laptops
MacBooks- $32,300.84
HP 6730B- $33,358.00
MSI Wind- $11,154.00

Now let's have some fun with the numbers. If you wanted to give 250 student at your school a laptop from these three choices this would be the cost.

Laptops for 250 student (Half your school)
MacBooks- $310,585.00
HP 6730B- $320,750.00
MSI Wind- $107,250.00

Have you had a computer that was so frustrating to you that life would be simpler without it. I would bet "yes". I have! My current desktop at work can barely handle what I need to do on a daily basis just to do my job. I have been using my MSI Wind for two weeks now and I have been using various Cloud Apps as well. Life has been great. I have had everything I am working on at my fingertips, on-demand computing has literally made my school work easier.

With numbers like I am looking at by switching to a netbook and Cloud Apps the decision is easy and if my vote counts I say, "Nothing but Net!"

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Married to My Apps

Jon Pierce — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 03:37:34 +0000

If you are like me you are married to your applications: iMovie, Sketchup, iPhoto, Fireworks, and many others. I have always loved the next great application that could outperform others in the same class. However, in the present economy I am a bit more married to saving where I can. Whether I am purchasing for home or for work it is my duty as an American to get the best product/service for the least amount of money. It just so happens that I am finding that I can replace my current applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, ...) at work with free cloud applications and save my school money. Saving money with free cloud apps and netbooks for students will hopefully free up the money that is needed to support my human infrastructure with the appropriate staff developments needed.

If you have been following this blog you know that I have been testing out the MSI Wind Netbook to see if it can replace the current laptops my students are using. I am also trying out various Cloud Apps to see if I can replace the applications my students are currently using. Today I began the process of getting everything I am currently working on with my students into the clouds. I am using Google Apps to start with and I am using it under my school district domain. First thing I need to do is put as request into the district to have them create account for all of my students and teachers in my building. Once that is done I can begin importing all of the email addresses to create my contact lists and start sharing and collaborating. The next step is to get a cloud environment setup in a small isolated group (my Build Your Own Online Business class) that is willing to work solely in the clouds. This class will be ideal to test in due to it's nature. The students will develop a website, business plan, marketing plan, commercials, and an online presentation about their new online business. All of this will be done with cloud applications and a open source CMS (Content Management System) on a remote server.

The applications I plan on using are:

I would love to give all of my students MSI Winds for this class, but I am not sure how to get a set of 15 netbooks. That would make this part of the project so much more meaningful. My ultimate goal is to have all my students in the school using netbooks. Whether they own them and bring them to school (ideal) or the school purchases enough that our school achieves a 1:1 netbook:student ratio as possible.

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Cloud Security

Jon Pierce — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 21:31:48 +0000

Have you ever felt like the documents on your computer needed to be protected the best you could.How many feel that their own computer's hard drive is the safest place? I have a friend that works in computer security and most likely has his documents encrypted for the reason that if his computer would ever be stolen his documents could not be opened. Security is very important especially when you are dealing with student work and student information. I know that one of the big concerns in my school district is that others will be able to access the data we store in clouds. So, I found a blog article that was written by Huan Liu, Cloud is more secure than your hard disk .

After reading his article I commented to briefly explain what I am looking into for my school and where I see security being an issue for our main decision makers. This morning he replied with the comment, "The sad part is that, even after I put down the logical arguments, some of my colleagues are still not convinced to put their encrypted file on Cloud. When it comes to policy, people like to be really conservative rather than sorry. It could take a while for people to change their perception on Cloud." -Huan Liu

Huan is right on about Cloud Computing and data storage in the clouds. His example of Amazon S3 is a great way to look at how protected the Cloud really is. I hope that he is wrong about the time it will take to change the perception on Cloud. I believe that many people wanto to begin using the Cloud the way it has been intended, but are concerned. I hope that with the blog Cloud-Browser I am writing and the many others that I will refer to in my writing. Since security and control over what students bring into the school is a concern that is delaying decisions such as, Cloud Computing and students bringing in their own laptops.

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Netbooks, Web Tablets, and Cloud Apps oh my!

Jon Pierce — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 06:40:51 +0000

I would like to start today's blog post off by saying how much fun I have had over the last few days writing about something I am so excited about. Over the last month I have done so much research and testing that it feels like I may have found the end of the internet, but I know that there is more to learn, develop, and create. This must be a similar feeling to what the person in The Gods Must Be Crazy felt. However, as I continue to build on my cloud knowledge I must share with you a project that I have been following for the last seven months.

It is the TechCruch Tablet. This tablet is a low cost, simple touch screen web tablet that that will load to a customized browser. The conversation about the creation of the Tablet began in July of 2008. The goal was to build it for $200. As development progresses they are beginning to realize that the actual cost may be more around $299. Still affordable for a NetTablet. The possibilities for this project go well beyond having a slim tablet to tote around to the coffe shop or on vacation. imagine one in every kitchen, with the ability to access any web-based cookbook or database of recipes. I can see it mounted on the wall or recessed in for the clean and retro look. I can also so a breakout of online cooking/baking communities surfacing on the net. But what about education? As an educator myself, I am not sitting back waiting to carve out my piece of "T-Pie" (Technology Pie). Let's think about putting these into the hands of students, then introduce and expand their knowledge to the clouds. Schools face a few very hard facts. Finances are spread very thin and being digital just doesn't cut it anymore to support our 21st Century Learners. I am sure there are more, but these two are the one I am immediatly concerned with. Affordable Netbooks, web tablet like the TechCruch Tablet, and Cloud Apps are just the start.

Today I would like to invite you to speak up about your experiences with Cloud Applications. If you are reading this blog you could most likely write volumes on more than one piece of technology, but how about Cloud Apps. Netbooks? Web Tablets? What are you using? What works? What doesn't? Looking for a place to begin? Check out my starter list, Cloud-Browser.

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Cloud Computing Alternative to Power Point-Slide Rocket

Jon Pierce — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 22:45:27 +0000

In getting ready for my sub today I wanted to type my Lesson Plans in Google Docs. So, I created a general template so that the next time I need to generate plans I can fill in the blanks of the template and be ready to go. What would be really great is if the school district was widely using Google Docs. Then all I would have to do is share my plans with the sub and not have to worry about printing them out or emailing them to my front office secretary to give to my sub. I think that the next thing I will do is get my Tech. Assistant to setup her Google Docs so that I can begin sharing with her. It will also give her the option to collaborate and make changes where and when needed.

Today I was part of a Science/Social Studies/Technology Workshop that was focusing on using a Smart Board in lessons of Inquiry. Once finished we created photo slide shows with images from Flickr Storm. Flickr Storm has the ability to select and temporarily save your chosen images in a sidebar gallery. This is done by hold down the "shift" button while clicking on the photo. From there it will create a url for your gallery. So, after we did that we were to import them into iPhoto and create a simple slide show. Now, I decided in my attempt to test as many cloud apps I would try Slide Rocket. It worked really well. I was able to begin a presentation in the usual way and add all the slides I needed. Everything works pretty much the same as PowerPoint with a few exceptions. Some of the simple feature I like are effects. Just being able to bevel images and create reflections on my pictures adds a level of polish that other Cloud Presentation Apps don't have. Another cool feature is that I can share it with anybody via web, email, or I can download it to my laptop and convert to ppt. Last but not least if you are using Slide Rocket for a presentation you will be giving to a large amount of people and the conference requires you to provide a printed copy for the the attendees, Slide Rocket will send it to Mimeo for you. Mimeo will print it, bind it and ship off to your conference waiting for you. Pretty sweet to have it waiting for me at my hotel before I even arrive. What a way to make a teacher feel like a Rock Star!

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Post 2: Using The Wind To Get To The Clouds

Jon Pierce — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 13:42:43 +0000

ok...Today went well again. I started out my day checking and responding to emails then creating a short list of Cloud Apps for some people in my school district. The same list that is in my most recent post, Post 1: Using the Wind To Get To The Clouds. It now seems that they are interested in exploring this as an option to replace our current. As a school based Technology Coordinator in my school district this makes me extremely happy. I started using a few Cloud Apps suchs Google Docs about three years ago with my Media Production class. Using a real-time-multi-user-editing application was not only functional but practical for things like schedules and scripts. So, my schools district is interested in Cloud Apps but one of their major reservation is a security issue. Over the next few weeks I will now hopefully be posting and reading from my blog contributers more about possible solutions and suggestions about how to handle security policies.

After answering my emails I decided to download the lates version of Google Earth. To see how the Wind works with some Open Source stand-apps. The newest version, 5.0, is awesome. Amoung the newest features is the ability dive into the depths of any ocean. Now you are not swimming with the fish but you are able to observe topography and naviagte around. I think this would be a great opportunity to teach students to embed videos into their Google Earth tours. For example: my 3rd and 4th grade students study Australia and the can now pull a short video clip down from Discovery Streaming and embed it into their Great Barrier Reef placemark. Overall, the newest version is great and it the graphics and speed are as good on the Wind Netbook.

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